Worth a Shot
by Dragon Elexus
Summary: Rose is confused why humans bother to have children. Greg tries to explain. He's not sure if he does very well. (One half of a pair of linked pieces, the other being 'Worth the Risk').


_**Author's Note:**_ This is a companion piece to the one-shot, "Worth the Risk", which can be found on my profile. The two can be read in either order. What you can _also_ find on my profile: a link to the Tumblr and AO3 account of the co-author of these two pieces, the wonderful Zombee. If you enjoy this, I suggest checking her out. She came up with the whole idea.

oOoOoOoOo

 **Worth a Shot**

"I'm just so confused."

It was a familiar refrain for Greg at this point, but he still marvelled that his Rose—this magical goddess alien warlord, with millennia worth of knowledge contained inside her Gem—could admit so _readily_ to her ignorance. He loved her more every time she did. He wanted so desperately to explain it to her, but all that came out was-

"Yeesh, it's hard to explain."

Greg rubbed the back of his neck as Rose gazed down at him with eyes full of patience and trust.

"We… humans, that is… we know we're gonna die someday. It's not a question of if, but when."

"But childbirth is one of the most common reasons for human death! I've seen it happen, Greg. Even I could not have saved some of them."

"Yeah, Rose, I know. But bringing another person into the world… it's about… letting them have a shot to look at this whole mess with fresh eyes. Babies—kids—they're our legacy, but they're also, you know, _us_. All that will be left when we're dead. So I guess it's… worth the risk."

Rose had that pucker in her lips which Greg had come to know meant she was contemplating something he probably wouldn't understand. She sighed.

"What about you, Greg?"

"What about me?"

"Do _you_ want children?"

"Oh! Uhh…"

Truthfully, Greg hadn't thought a whole lot about it. He had been so young when he met Rose, and it was clear soon after that he was going to spend as much of his short life with her as she'd allow. He was pretty sure human plus alien-made-of-light didn't equal baby.

"Yeah. I guess—someday. Maybe. But, Rose, you're all—"

"—that you want. I know."

"You're all that I _need_ , Rose."

Rose smiled, but Greg could see that her eyes were still distant, and sad.

"Besides, who needs a baby when we've got Amethyst?"

This startled a giggle out of Rose, and some of the normal warmth returned to her face.

"That friend of yours. Vidalia," Rose said eventually. "She has a baby, doesn't she?"

Greg blinked. "What, you mean Sour Cream?" He gave a little laugh. "Yeah, she did. He's not really a baby anymore though. I think he's- ten, maybe? Eight? It's hard to keep track."

(He's pretty sure that's how old Sour Cream is, at least. He hasn't really been spending much time with Vidalia lately, and he doesn't think Amethyst has, either. Vi just got so busy, raising a kid all on her own, working long hours, selling what art she could for extra cash. He'd done what he could to help those first few years, but his financial situation hadn't exactly been stable, either. She's dating Yellowtail right now, he was pretty sure. That's good. Yellowtail's a cool guy. Way better than _Marty_ , no contest.)

"Oh?" Rose looked rather wistful. "I remember when he'd just been born. Amethyst was so excited; she ran around the Temple for hours talking about it. Now he's grown up so quickly." She shook her head. "But then, _everything_ seems to go quickly for me."

Greg grinned at her. It was another something she has said a lot to him, as apology or explanation or both, ever since their first dance on the beach all those years ago. "Eh, I don't think this one is unique to you, Oh _Ancient Alien_ ," he teased. "Kids grow up pretty quickly for us humans, too. One day you're holding them in your arms and teaching them how to walk, next thing you know, they're all grown up and asking for money to go buy a van." He rubbed his neck. "That's what my Mom always used to say about me, at least."

Rose grinned back at him, then leaned back, wearing that surprised, satisfied look she always got when she discovered something that humans and Gems did share, despite everything.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, Rose's huge hand laid overtop of his smaller, warmer one.

"So," Rose suddenly said, after some time has passed. "Do you think it's worth it?"

"Huh?" Greg said.

"Children," explained Rose, pulling Greg back to the topic. "Do you think they're worth it?"

He shrugged. "Well, I guess that's up to everyone to decide for themselves," he said. "But yeah. I do."

"Hmm."

Rose's eyes looked as though they were a million miles away. Her free hand had drifted the the gemstone at her belly, idly tracing its facets. She could be hard to read sometimes- Greg knew that very well- but he didn't think that she looked confused anymore. She merely seemed… pensive.

Maybe, he thinks, he's managed to explain this kid thing, after all.


End file.
